Howard Melton Webb, MBE, (born 14 July 1971) is an English football referee who officiates in the Premier League and has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2005.
Webb is counted amongst the top referees of all time by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), and has refereed the final of both the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup, being the first person to referee both matches in the same year.
Webb has drawn praise for his authoritative and respected approach to refereeing, from football bodies, pundits, colleagues, players, and managers including José Mourinho who said, "he is a man who seems to get the big decisions right".
Webb first took up refereeing in local Rotherham leagues in 1989. In 1993, he progressed to the Northern Counties East League as an assistant referee, becoming a referee for that league two years later.
In 1996, he was appointed as a Football League assistant referee, and, in 1998, fulfilled the same function in the Premier League, as well as being promoted to the Football Conference as a referee. He is a police officer with South Yorkshire Police but took a five-year sabbatical leave to concentrate on his refereeing.
In 2000, he was included on the National List of Football League referees, stepping up to the Select Group for the Premier League three years later. His first game in the top tier of English football was on 18 October 2003, when he took charge of the 0–0 draw between Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was appointed as a FIFA official in 2005.
Webb bore a one-week demotion from officiating in the Premier League down to the Football League Championship in April 2009, a punishment sporadically imposed on referees who make high-profile contentious errors. Webb had been earlier been appointed to referee the year's FA Cup Final, arguably the highest domestic honour for an official, when he awarded Manchester United a debatable penalty kick while they trailed 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. The penalty was converted and United went on to win the match 5-2. Webb later admitted he had made "a mistake" but had made the decision "honestly".
Since then, Webb has been appointed to referee some of the world's highest-profile football matches, including an FA Cup Final, a UEFA Champions League Final and a FIFA World Cup Final. Following in this section are some key matches Webb has refereed in his career since being promoted to the Premier League and FIFA list of referees.
